Mary Keightley's blog

If I could remove one thing from the mind of every woman I train for leadership positions. That one thing would be "doubt" That horrible feeling which feeds the thought "I can't" and kills your dream.

You and I both know you can, the real truth is you don't want or you are afraid to. The first clarification needed is that you know the difference between can't do and won't do and that you take all steps possible to eliminate doubt.

As training consultants we get to spend a lot of time working with teams that don’t work and working with team members that don’t work! What is common to all these team members that don't work, is that they choose not to play by the rules. They see themselves outside the team, not in the team. They happily expect the rest of their colleagues to play by the rules but the rules don’t apply to them. Rules get in the way of getting the job done. In great teams each individual aligns to the “team rules”.

If you were described my a male or female colleague as disagreeable, would or should you be offended?

Let start with a definition of agreeableness and the science of personality traits! Conventional personality research defines agreeableness as two related qualities: (1) the extent to which you value getting along with others, and (2) the degree to which you are willing to be critical of others.